Organizational

Communication
The Human Resource Approaches
Building Blocks
 Classical theorists pay little attention to:
 the individual needs of employees,

 nonfinancial rewards in the workplace,

 the prevalence of social interaction in organizations.

 how employees could contribute to meeting

organizational goals through knowledge, ideas, and

discussion
 Classical approach-organizations are like

machines. Parts of the organizations have

specializations [doing a certain job], standardization
[easily replaceable], and predictability [always the
same outcome and makes it easy to find a problem]
The Human Relations approach
 From Classical Theory to Human Relations: The
Hawthorne Studies (1924 -1933), conducted at the
Western Electric Company’s Hawthorne plant in Illinois.
 Attempted to discover aspects of the task environment

that would maximize worker output and hence improve

organizational efficiency.
 Four major phases marked the Hawthorne studies:

1. the illumination studies,

2. the relay assembly test room studies,

3. the interview program,

4. and the bank wiring room studies.

Hawthorne Studies
 The Illumination Studies: Designed to determine the
influence of lighting level on worker productivity. To the
surprise of the researchers, there was no significant
influence of lighting.
 The Relay Assembly: To check the influence of
incentive plans, rest pauses, temperature, humidity, work
hours, and refreshments. Productivity went up. Findings:
“social satisfactions arising out of human association in
work were more important determinants of work
behavior in general and output in particular than were
any of the physical and economic aspects of the work
situation to which the attention had originally been
limited” (Carey, 1967, p. 404).
 The Interview Program: impact of working conditions
on productivity, the interviewers found workers more
interested in talking about their feelings and attitudes.
 The Bank Wiring Room Studies: Naturalistic (non-

experimental) observation of a group of men in the bank

wiring room. Observations revealed that the men
developed norms regarding the “proper” level of
productivity and exerted social pressure on each other to
maintain that level.
 Findings of Hawthorne studies:

1. Hawthorne effect.: Whereby mere attention to

individuals causes changes in behavior
2. Impact of informal social factors :

3. management style could account for some of the

observed productivity changes.
McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y
 McGregor’s Theory X postulates (McGregor,
1957, p. 23) about human nature are even
more straightforward:
1. The average man is by nature indolent—he
works as little as possible.
2. He lacks ambition, dislikes responsibility, and
prefers to be led.
3. He is inherently self-centered and indifferent to
organizational needs.
4. He is by nature resistant to change.
5. He is gullible, not very bright, and the ready
dupe of the charlatan and the demagogue.
McGregor’s Theory Y
 The expenditure of physical and mental effort in work
is as natural as play or rest.
 External control and the threat of punishment are not
the only means for bringing about effort toward
organizational objectives.
 Commitment to objectives is a function of the
rewards associated with their achievement.
 Not only to accept but also to seek responsibility.
 imagination, ingenuity, and creativity in the solution
of organizational problems is widely distributed in
the population.
 The intellectual potentialities of the average human
being are only partially utilized.
Building Blocks
 Human relations approach-The human relations
approach looks to satisfies the human needs of the
workers.
 Classical Approach + Human Relations Approach =
Human Resources Approach
 Definition-The human resource approach
“recognizes that individuals in organizations have
feelings that must considered and also recognize
that individual labor is an important ingredient for
meeting organizational goals.”
 Higher-order needs can be satisfied through job design,
management style, and other organizational factors.
 When these higher-order needs are satisfied, employees
should be happier.
 When employees are happier, they should be more
productive.
 cultural factors, such as whether a culture is a
“masculine” one that values individualistic outcomes
Misuse of HR Principles
 “pseudo-participation” will backfire
 Belief v/s pactice
 Both human relations and human resources
managers might advocate the same kind of
organizational behavior but for very different
reasons.
 paradox of participation--- paradoxical dimension
of empowered organizing
 human resources approach to be truly empowering,
more surface changes in communication patterns
 Fundamental changes in assumptions about
organizational functioning and fundamental
changes in organizational structure and interaction
Theories of Human Resource
Approach
Blake and Mouton’s Managerial Grid
◦ Leadership Grid
◦ A tool for training managers in leadership styles
that would enhance organizational efficiency and
effectiveness and stimulate the satisfaction and
creativity of individual workers
◦ concern for people + concern for production
Blake and Mouton’s Managerial Grid
Likert’s System IV
Likert theorizes that an organization can take
a number of forms all of which are more or
less effective in satisfying organizational and
individual goals.
1. System I: Exploitive authoritative
organization (control at top-level of
organization- threat & fear)
2. System II: Benevolent authoritative
organization (eco &ego rewards)
3. System III: Consultative organization
4. System IV: Participative organization
(control at all levels)
The “How” of Human Resources Programs
 Know when team-based management is appropriate:
work that cuts across functional lines, a diverse and
complex organizational environment, a rapidly
changing workplace
 Consider the attitudes of top management: the
impetus as well as responsibility for change rests
with top management.
 Deal with cynicism about change: keeping people
involved in plans, seeing change from the employees’
perspective and providing opportunities to vent,
rewarding supervisors for effective communication,
and minimizing surprises.
 Facilitate the translation process: a new “language” to
be learned.
 In jobs you have had, what aspects of the
workplace did you find particularly satisfying?
What role did managers have in making the
organization a satisfying place? How do your
experiences, then, fit in with the ideas of
Abraham Maslow and Douglas McGregor?
Human Relations/Resources
Approaches: 1930-1965
Human Relations
 Worker happiness =
productivity
 Organizations should be
more democratic
 Informal communication
happens – and is useful
 Examples:
◦ Hawthorne studies
◦ Communication “climate”
Human Resources
 Worker motivation comes
from combination of factors
(economic, social, self)
 Workers are a resource,
wasted by most
organizations.
 Individual and
organizational goals can be
pursued together
 Participation increases
performance
 Examples:
◦ MacGregor’s Theory X
and Y
◦ Likert’s management
systems